Our first list of the year contains thirty interesting archives and manuscripts, most of them freshly catalogued over the past two months. Highlights include a fantastic and charming travelogue of a journey from England to the Amazon illustrated with photos and drawings; a lengthy manuscript describing travel through Africa in great detail; a manuscript map from Mexico; two western American diaries; a large archive of a Colorado mining family; antebellum business letters from New Orleans; a weird manuscript from the 1980s about tarot; an Oklahoma teenager’s high school scrapbook; and much more. Enjoy!
Download PDF![Manuscript Letter, Signed, by S.L. Beckwith, Describing Unalaska in 1886]. Alaska, S. L. Beckwith](/pictures/thumb/McBRB1242.JPG?v=1592051946)
[Unalaska: June 10, 1886]. [4]pp., on a small bifolium. Previously folded. In a relatively neat, legible script. A manuscript letter by one S.L. Beckwith, describing his 1886 travels through the Aleutian Islands and the town of Unalaska, addressed to a woman named Ida, perhaps his sister. It reads, in part..... More
[Various places in South Africa, Botswana. 1883-1884]. 295pp., plus five additional letters totaling [60]pp., altogether more than 38,000 words. Composed mostly on small octavo sheets. Some wear to edges of initial and final few leaves, slightly affecting text. Light, even tanning. Written in a consistent, legible script. An extensive and..... More
Morrison, Ill. 1889, 1891-1892]. Twenty-three letters, [48]pp. total. Folio sheets. Old fold lines, minor scattered soiling and wear. In a legible hand. An archive of correspondence between an Illinois sheep farmer and his South Dakota-based farm manager detailing business over the course of several years. George Brown, based in Morrison..... More
![Two Photograph Albums Documenting the Tikwah Mining Corporation's Activities in British Guiana]....](/pictures/thumb/McBRB1522_01.jpg?v=1603725962)
[British Guiana]: 1946-1949. Two volumes. [66],[33] photographs on 33,[11]pp. Images vary in size, most 4.5 x 4.5 or 3.5 x 2.5 inches with some larger. Oblong octavos. Original black paper albums, string-tied. Cover of first volume detached, wear around edges of covers on each volume. Internally clean and fresh. Some..... More
Iowa City: [1892, 1894]. Small quarto. Spine ends slightly chipped; light wear to edges and spine cloth. Occasional small patches of staining; light tanning. "Revised edition," published in 1894 by University of Iowa botany professor T.H. McBride, of a workbook for students of the subject to record their plant finds..... More
![Record of the Board of Health of Liberty Township, Clinton Coy. Iowa [manuscript caption title]....](/pictures/thumb/McBRB1716_01.jpg?v=1609851847)
[Toronto, Ia.]: 1882-1918. [224]pp. Folio. Original black half calf and cloth, spine gilt. Corners and spine ends a bit worn. Text block separating from spine, but still sound. Several leaves loose, lightly soiled. Large folio ledger recording thirty-five years of health data for Clinton County, Iowa, comprising the minutes of..... More
[Primarily Arizona, Colorado, and Montana: 1893-1932]. 101 letters, totaling 379pp., plus several other miscellaneous related documents. Mostly folio and octavo sheets, most letters with original envelopes. Old folds, some light wear and soiling. A large archive of over 100 letters, primarily written by brothers Nelson and Claude Logue to their..... More
![Plano Topographico de la Vista de los Linderos del Pueblo de Colucán... [manuscript title]. Mexico](/pictures/thumb/McBRB1360.jpg?v=1588108805)
[Mexico: 1846]. Manuscript map, approximately 13 x 17.25 inches. Folded; original hand color. Moderate chipping and several short closed tears at edges; three minor losses within map area. Light ink offsetting; Light tanning and scattered faint foxing. A neat manuscript map that delineates the boundaries of the small Mexican town..... More
![Freight Receipt Book for the Carson City Station of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in 1877]....](/pictures/thumb/McBRB824_01.JPG?v=1592052063)
[Carson City, Nv. 1877]. 246 leaves. Oblong octavo. Original quarter cloth and marbled boards. Spine and edges somewhat worn; text block cocked. Internally clean. A fascinating manuscript receipt book that documents the types and amounts of freight carried by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad during the first half of May..... More
New York: 1883-1891. Ninety mortgages and other related documents; most comprised of multiple pages. Folio. Typed and handwritten material. Documents folded into quarters. Light scattered soiling and wear, but condition generally strong. Substantial archive of mortgages held by the American Loan and Trust Company, consisting primarily of mortgages for railroads..... More
Durango, Co. 1919. [188]pp., approximately 24,000 words. Small octavo journal, original black pebbled cloth. Light wear at edges and spine ends; hinges a bit loose. Accomplished in a neat, legible hand. Light tanning. An extensive diary for 1919 kept by widow Dilla Raymond of Durango, Colorado, where she lived with..... More
![Original Pen and Ink Manuscript Collection of Tarot and Esoteric Self-instruction Notebooks]. Tarot](/pictures/thumb/McBRB983_01.jpg?v=1590673807)
[San Francisco? 1974-1980]. Four black binders. Approximately [130] leaves of handwritten text and pen/ink illustrations, some with ink washes. The notebooks are divided into four parts, A-D. The various parts total about 130 individual leaves of manuscript notes in blue and black ink with corresponding illustrations and various types of..... More
![Nine Letters Written to Maud Hurd by Frank Ufer While Stationed at Forts in North Dakota]. Frank...](/pictures/thumb/McBRB1191.JPG?v=1587384604)
[Various places in North Dakota]: March - October, 1890. Nine letters totaling 40pp. Octavo and quarto sheets. Old folds, light wear and soiling, one letter with moderate wear and some slight loss. A series of letters written by soldier Frank Ufer to Miss Maud Hurd of Alton, New Hampshire, while..... More
[Okinawa: 1945-1946]. 363 original photographs, most 3.25 x 4.5 or 3.75 x 5 inches. Loose photos, some curling to approximately half of group. About 200 images neatly removed from previous album or other housing, with adhesive remnants on blank versos. Pencil annotations with dates and locations on a substantial minority..... More